MENNONITE MISSION NETWORK – Two-hundred ninety-one Mennonite Mission Network service alumni have become ministers, since formal data collection began 40 years ago. This doesn’t include mission workers or lay ministers.
Is this coincidence?
Some might say so. Del Hershberger, the director of Mission Network’s Christian Service, attributes the high number to local communities where participants serve.
“The communities play a factor in challenging participants to see how they define their vocation around following Jesus. In some cases, may lead them into ministry careers,” he said. Hershberger served in Stratford, Ontario, in 1978. Today, half of his Mennonite Voluntary Service unit is serving the church in some way.
Mennonite Mission Network’s service programs focus on the Seven Priorities of Mennonite Church USA. Participants learn about Christian formation, leadership development, and holistic witness through action and reflection. But all of it is tied together by Christian community.
Vicki Penner ended her MVS term in 1992. Afterward, she wanted to continue the relationships she made with the Mennonite community in Pittsburgh. To Penner, service and ministry went hand-in-hand and “is central to [her] understanding of the Christian faith.” She chose to attend Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania.
Mennonite Mission Network’s service programs nurture participants through mentoring. Church members and hosting partners help participants to mature in their faith and grow as leaders. It’s a capstone of the experience.
(L) (back row) Joe Heikman, Beth Holsopple, Ashley Green, Lori Green, (front row) Rachel Spory, Marcy Spory, and Mickey Trout with Service Adventure in St Louis.
(R) Joe Heikman preaching
Joe Heikman “accidentally fell into pastoral ministry.” When his teacher’s aide placement fell through, with Service Adventure he became the youth coordinator at Carpenter Park Mennonite Church (Davidsville, Pa.). The entire congregation, including Pastors Steve Kriss and Tom Croyle, were a “key part of my decision to pursue seminary,” said Heikman. After his Service Adventure term ended, he returned as youth coordinator for three more years. Heikman attended seminary at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, and now pastors at Wildwood Mennonite Church in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Kiva Shiri Nice-Webb is a DOOR Dwell alumna. Like Heikman, she also credits her mentors to clarifying her calling to ministry—peacemaking and reconciliation, to be exact. Megan Ramer, the pastor at Chicago Community Mennonite Church, and Celeste Groff were especially helpful in Nice-Webb’s discernment. Nice-Webb received a fellowship from the Fund for Theological Education and plans to attend the Divinity School at the University of Chicago this fall.
(L) Justin Shenk and Valerie Showalter were the leaders of this Youth Venture group to Guatemala in 2011 or 2012.
(R) Justin Shenk and Valerie Showalter, in England.
To Valerie Showalter, ministry isn’t designated to a place or time. Youth Venture left its mark on Showalter beginning at age 15. The three-week, service-learning trip to Montreal, inspired the next 12 years of her life. Showalter served a year with Service Adventure and led four Youth Venture trips. Afterward, she helped coordinate visits from both service programs in Albuquerque, N.M. Currently, Valerie and her husband, Justin Shenk, serve with Mennonite Mission Network as community hosts with the Clapton Park United Reformed Church. “Service is not a once-and-done event or reserved for those within a particular program; it’s a chosen way of life,” said Showalter. “It’s a foundational way to follow the teachings of Jesus.”
Tory Doerksen is a pastor at First Mennonite Church in Denver, Colo. His career is a service in itself, but he also believes that a season of intentional service can be a spiritual practice. “It’s sort of like a spiritual cleanse and fast … a time of putting our personal agenda at bay to really focus on our place within God’s larger picture,” he said. Doerksen is a Youth Venture alumnus and former Service Adventure leader. He attended Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) and George Fox Evangelical Seminary.
(L) Paula Snyder Belousek, Darrin Snyder Belousek, Liam Belousek, Kara Meyer, Josh Musser, Stefanie Ruhs from 2009-10
(R) Paula Snyder Belousek preaching at the Annual Conference Assembly of the Ohio Mennonite Conference in Kidron in March 2013
Regardless of the location or time-length of service, “God really calls all of us,” said Paula Snyder Belousek. The Service Adventure leader and MVS alumna attended AMBS and pastors at Salem Mennonite Church in Elida, Ohio. “In God’s hands all of us have a role we can play in sharing God’s love with the world.”
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Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact news@mennonitemission.net.
